Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Emylene Aspilla, Director
City Administrator Department of Workplace &
Employment Standards
SUBJECT: Inclusive Contracting Update DATE: June 28, 2023
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator On Recent And Planned Efforts To Broaden And Deepen Participation From Local And Small Local Businesses And Improve Fairness And Equity In The City’s Contracting Process.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this Informational Report is to provide a high-level summary of recent and planned efforts to advance greater contracting equity and increase the participation of diverse local and small local businesses in the City of Oakland’s contracting opportunities.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
In 2015, the City Council passed Ordinance No. 13319 C.M.S. , which established the
Department of Race and Equity, committed to intentionally integrate the principles of “fair and just” in all the City of Oakland (City) does, and charged the City Administrator with supporting the development of actions that improve fairness and opportunity in business practices such as contracting and procurement. (See Oakland Municipal Code Section 2.29.170.)
On October 11, 2021, the Finance & Management Committee received an update on items that the City identified to increase contracting opportunities for local and diverse firms, including the convening of numerous stakeholder groups.
On August 17, 2022, an Informational Memo was distributed to the Mayor and City Council that provided a brief summary of the status of various programs and initiatives being undertaken by the City in support of increasing the participation of local and diverse vendors in the City’s contracting process.
On July 18, 2023, the City Council will receive an Informational Report on the Disparities in Contracting Study by Mason Tilman Associates (MTA). While the findings and policy recommendations of the study will not be available until later this year, the City has engaged in implementing and planning several initiatives that aim to remove barriers for local and small local businesses seeking to do business with the City of Oakland. This Informational Memo summarizes these recent and planned efforts.
Jestin Johnson (Jun 30, 2023 07:16 PDT)
Jun 30, 2023
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 2
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
1. Contracting for Equity Framework
The Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE), a national network of government agencies working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all, published an Issue Brief on Contracting for Equity th at examines three levels within the government contracting and procurement process:
1. Policy – establishing an overall policy that advances equity within the localized context
2. Strategy – developing and implementing specific strategies that are implemented and tracked to ensure meaningful results
3. Practice and Regulation – ensuring practices of the contracting process allow for a well implemented inclusive contracting and procurement strategy
This Informational Report will summarize the City’s recent and planned efforts that focus on the Strategy and Practice and Regulation levels, within the overall policy of the integration of “fair and just” in City contracting and procurement.
All the efforts within these two areas have been driven by diverse stakeholder input gathered over the past couple of years through meetings of the Contracting Disparity Action Team (CDAT), a survey designed to inform CDAT discussions, a townhall listening session, focus groups, targeted interviews, and formal/informal complaints. These efforts were also informed by a careful review of the recommendations from the 2020 Draft Disparity Study, particularly those focused on outreach, capacity building, compliance monitoring, and data collection/reporting. Research on best practices in other municipalities was also considered in prioritizing the design and implementation of initiatives.
Further Policy considerations will be brought to Council after the findings and recommendations of the Disparity Study by MTA, Process Map of the City’s Contracting Process (described below) and the Racial Equity Impact Analysis (also described below) of the current Local and Small Local Business Enterprise (L/SLBE) Program have been presented to Council for their consideration.
2. Strategy
Below summarizes the City’s efforts related to educating bidders, facilitating outreach and networking, and building contractor capacity:
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 3
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Outreach and Networking
Events • Held “Doing Business with the
Departments of Public Works
(OPW) and Transportation”
(OakDOT) in December, 2022
(virtual) and March, 2023 (hybrid –
virtual and in-person). In addition to
OPW and OakDOT presenting
upcoming opportunities, the
Department of Workplace and
Employment Standards (DWES)
provided information on the L/SLBE
Program, and the Economic and
Workforce Development
Department (EWDD) presented
capacity building resources,
including bonding assistance
services for contractors. Will
continue to offer this event on a
quarterly basis.
• In July, 2023, hosting the City’s first
“Capital Improvement Program
(CIP) Matchmaking Event” – this
event will include an overview of
the 2023-2025 CIP, and include
one-on-one meetings between
small businesses and larger
businesses to discuss potential CIP
partnering opportunities.
• H osting:
o Project-specific “Meet and
Greet” events.
o Events focusing on specific
trades.
o Events focusing on
professional services, and
goods and services
purchasing opportunities.
Forecasts • Published the first formal OPW and
OakDOT Contracting Forecasts in
December, 2022. Have published
two forecasts to date and will
continue publishing these on a
quarterly basis.
• Publishing:
o T rade-specific forecasts
across projects.
o Forecasts for professional
services, and goods and
services purchasing
opportunities.
Inclusion Plan • DWES, the Department of Race
and Equity (DRE) and the Office of
the City Attorney (OCA) have
worked on developing solicitation
language that requires contractors
to make genuine efforts to ensure
that all available business
enterprises— including small,
historically underutilized, woman-
owned, and BIPOC-owned
businesses that reflect the diversity
of the City in terms of gender, age,
ethnicity, and race—have equal
opportunity to participate in
subcontract opportunities.
• Including the newly developed
“inclusion language” into a bigger
effort to require all bidders to submit
a mandatory “Inclusion Plan”
detailing their outreach efforts
and/or detailing new partnerships
with small and historically
underutilized businesses, including
BIPOC-owned and woman-owned
businesses, along with other
businesses. A good faith effort will
be expected in all Plans. Bids will
be considered non-responsive if an
Inclusion Plan is not submitted –
anticipate implementation of this
requirement in Fall/Winter, 2023,
with plans to socialize the Inclusion
Plan throughout Summer 2024 with
local businesses and community
partners.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 4
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Outreach and Networking – continued
Website
Enhancements
• In Fall 2022, fully transitioned the
L/SLBE Certification process from I-
Supplier to B2GNow, a more
streamlined, user-friendly web-based
system used by numerous other
municipalities as well as the California
Unified Certification Program (CUCP)
run by Caltrans.
• Implementing a new platform
on the City’s website to enable
prospective bidders and
members of the public to more
easily access proposal and bid
information. Several information
gathering and planning
meetings have occurred. The
Information Technology
Department (ITD) is currently
working on a prototype platform
with an anticipated rollout in
Spring, 2024.
Outreach
Distribution Lists
and Advertising
of Opportunities
• DWES is working on coordinating
email distribution lists from across
departments so that stakeholders do
not receive duplicative and/or a
voluminous number of messages,
and communication to stakeholders is
more coordinated, streamlined, and
targeted. Also working to ensure
distribution lists are comprehensive
and include diverse small businesses,
ethnic chambers of commerce,
neighborhood merchant associations,
and other community stakeholders.
Stakeholders will also be asked to
opt-in to specific kinds of messages.
• Advertising contracting
opportunities in more than the
required publications such as
small business, industry, and
trade publications.
• Sending curated and targeted
messages versus “blanket
messages” to everyone.
• Utilizing press releases and
social media to promote events
and contracting opportunities.
Capacity Building
Contractor
Resource
Center
• EWDD finalized an agreement with
the Contractor Resource Center
(CRC) to act as a “one-stop-shop” for
small construction contractors. CRC
supports contractors with addressing
a variety of barriers such as how to
respond to bids and how to manage
back-office and legal concerns. CRC
also offers educational workshops on
topics such as project management
and how to implement trade software.
CRC also coordinates closely with the
City of Oakland on community
outreach and L/SLBE certification,
and with Merriwether and Williams
Insurance Services on other
supports.
• Continuing to build out various
offerings for small construction
contractors.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 5
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Capacity Building – continued
Bonding • EWDD finalized an agreement
with Merriweather & Williams
Insurance Services (MW) to
provide technical assistance,
insurance and bonding, and
access to capital supports to small
contractors. In addition to working
directly with contractors, MW
participates in the City’s contractor
outreach efforts.
• Leveraging MW’s other supports
for contractors.
Technical
Assistance
• On an ad-hoc basis, have worked
with contractors on understanding
the City of Oakland contracting
process.
• Formalizing training for small
businesses to learn about the
City’s contracting and purchasing
systems – workshops, cheat-
sheets, FAQs, on-demand
training, etc.
• Formalizing debriefing sessions
with bidders/reviewing successful
bids.
Workshops and
Events
• Revamped the “Certification 101”
Workshop to include a step-by-
step guide for how to use the
City’s new B2GNow certification
system – have continued to
provide certification workshops in
the community.
• Offering a variety of skill-building
workshops, expert panels, and
other events, such as a “City of
Oakland Small Business Summit,”
virtually (online), on-demand
(recorded videos) and in-person,
both at the City of Oakland, and in
the community at small business
expos, small business week,
conferences, tradeshows, cultural
events, celebrations, etc.
3. Practice and Regulation
Below summarizes the City’s efforts related to maximizing existing contracting mechanisms, strengthening compliance activities, and laying the groundwork for larger scale system enhancements:
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 6
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Contracting Mechanisms
On-call Contracts • OPW’s Bureau of Design &
Construction revamped how it
solicits bids for its On-Call Sewer
and On-Call Construction Pools
to include two tiers of contracting
with small and large contracts.
These tiers make opportunities
more accessible to small
contractors, with the potential for
small contractors to act as both
primes on small contracts and
subs on larger contracts. This
approach increased the On-call
Sewer Contractors from 2 to 9
and On-call Construction from 8
to 14. Additionally, L/SLBE
participation is evaluated at the
Task Order level versus at the
end of each contract – this will
help ensure local and small local
business enterprises are being
engaged throughout the life of a
contract. The On-Call pool will
also re-open on an annual basis
to allow potential new entrants.
Historically, On-Call pools only
re-opened every five years.
• Exploring how this mechanism
can be combined with a formal
contractor rotation program, as
well as applied to other On-Call
pools across the City, including
professional services.
Bonding • Changed bonding requirements
on On-Call public works
contracts to “bond as you go” so
that a contractor‘s bonding
capacity is not maxed out when
there are no active tasks on the
contract.
• Analyzing bonding requirements
to ensure bonding levels are
commensurate with the type of
project.
Unbundling &
Direct Contracting
• OPW and OakDOT have been
successfully unbundling projects
into smaller contracts for various
scopes of work, including
sidewalk repair and tree
maintenance, allowing small
businesses to contract directly
with the City.
• Continuing to determine what
portions of large projects might
be suitable for smaller standalone
contracts across all the City’s
business lines.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 7
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Contracting Mechanisms – continued
Solicitation Pre-
planning
Questionnaire &
Checklist
• DWES is developing a questionnaire (to be piloted in Fall, 2023) to use with departments in the pre-planning of a solicitation that will help departments evaluate a contracting opportunity to ensure it is developed to maximize the participation of small businesses, and offers opportunities for small businesses to build their capacity related to the specific contract scope. The assessment areas will review:
o Minimum Qualifications and Scoring
o Scope and Potential Unbundling Opportunities
o Availability/Small Business Participation Goals
o Length of Agreement/Impacts of Time Extensions
o Small Business Skill Building/Capacity Building Efforts o Targeted Business Community Outreach
Administrative
Instruction (AI) on
Inclusive
Procurement
Planning
• DWES and DRE are partnering on developing an Administrative Instruction (AI) that lays out various strategies to improve contracting access for small businesses, women-owned businesses, and BIPOC- owned businesses, at all stages of the contracting process, from the development of the contracting opportunity, to the close out of the contracting opportunity. The solicitation language, Inclusion Plan, and Solicitation Pre-planning Questionnaire & Checklist (all described above) will be included as required strategies in the AI – will finalize the AI in early, 2024 after the Contracting Process Mapping Report (described below) is finalized. The AI has three equity goals:
1. Every small Oakland business, including BIPOC- and women- owned businesses that have been disproportionately
underrepresented in City contracts, has equitable access to City contracts to increase economic security.
2. Identify and Remove barriers- both historic and current in the City of Oakland’s contract policies, practices, and procedures- to access contract opportunities for the most impacted populations.
3. Provide department staff with guidance on strategies and best practices to increase participation of under-represented local businesses and small local businesses.
Staff Training • Updated the Agenda Report
Training to clarify what
information, including L/SLBE
outreach and participation,
should be included in Agenda
Reports for contract awards.
• In Fall, 2023, offering updated
Citywide Trainings on the City’s
requirements related to local and
local small business participation
(L/SLBE), local hiring, and wages
and benefits in contracts for
construction, goods and services,
and professional services from
the initial stages of procurement,
to the close-out of projects and
contracts.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 8
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Contracting Mechanisms – continued
Professional
Services
Contracting
Function Moved to
Finance
• In an effort to improve the
efficiency of procurement for
professional services and grants,
the Contracts Unit in DWES
moved to the Finance
Department, Controller’s Bureau,
effective June 12, 2023.
• Continuing to implement
contracting efficiencies.
DWES Compliance Monitoring
DWES Staffing
Reorganization
• Given frozen positions, recently
pivoted compliance staff
responsibilities so that tasks are
redistributed, and compliance
officers now function as
compliance specialists versus
compliance generalists. Staff
are now organized across two
program divisions, each with two
units.
• Assessing how the reorganization
is functioning and course
correcting as necessary.
• Creating Standard Operating
Procedures/Training Manual for
all compliance activities to ensure
consistency.
• Building capacity/strategies to:
o Monitor compliance
during the life of a
contract (Ex. payments
and change orders).
o Maximize L/SLBEs in the
City’s purchasing of
goods and commodities.
o Expedite certifications
and compliance reviews.
o Respond promptly and
thoroughly to complaints.
Compliance
Software & Tools
• Purchased additional B2GNow
software modules that focus on
monitoring contracting
compliance.
• Continuing to implement various
process improvements.
Forms & Schedules • Working on updating/automating
Forms and Schedules.
Data Collection &
Reporting
• Performed an initial analysis of
certification data to determine
the impact of implementing a
headquarters requirement for
L/SLBE certification. Have since
completed a data/systems audit
and created a data insights
“dream list,” including
contracting data broken down by
race, ethnicity, business size,
and industry/type of work.
• Transforming DWES into a data-
driven department with regular
public reports available to the
public.
• Aligning fiscal information with
L/SLBE certification status.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 9
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
Executed/Ongoing Planned/Pending
Systems Enhancements
Racial Equity
Impact Analysis
(REIA)
• Currently performing a Racial Equity Impact Analysis to systematically examine how different racial and ethnic groups are faring in the current L/SBLE program, as well as how they might be affected by an overhaul of the various L/SLBE program components. Did a preliminary review of data related to restricting certification to businesses only headquartered in Oakland. Currently compiling contract awards from 7/1/2021 to date to analyze trends. Anticipate completing analysis in the first quarter of 2024.
Contracting
Mapping
• Finalized a contract with
Management Partners to prepare a
Process Map of the City’s
Contracting Process and develop a
report of observations and
recommendations for improvement.
• Identifying and operationalizing
opportunities for improvement
identified in the report that will
maximize contracting equity.
Cooperative
Agreements,
Licensing
Agreements, Gifts
in Place
• Worked with Departments to
negotiate with their contractors to
honor the spirit of the L/SLBE
requirements in agreements in
which the L/SLBE Program does
not apply.
• Suggesting proposed edits to
the L/SLBE Program to ensure
L/SLBE requirements can be
consistently included in the
different kinds of City
agreements.
Equity in
Infrastructure
Project (EIP)
• The Directors of Workplace and Employment Standards, Oakland Public Works, Race & Equity, and Oakland Department of Transportation met with Phil Washington, CEO of Denver International Airport, and co- founder of the Equity in Infrastructure Project (EIP), along John D.
Porcari, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation. EIP was founded in anticipation of the $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, along with regional and state infrastructure investments, and works to fulfil President Biden’s Justice 40 Initiative and Executive Order 14008 which strive to have 40% of Federal investments flow to disadvantaged communities that are marginalized, underserved, and overburdened by pollution. The four Department Directors that met with Phill Washington have recommended that the City sign on to the EIP Pledge. In addition to potentially increasing the City of Oakland’s competitive advantage for federal and state funding opportunities, signing on to the EIP Pledge affirms the City of Oakland’s commitment to building greater racial equity and aligns the City with other early adopters across the United States that are making bold and innovative efforts to improve public contracting processes to create more opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses.
Small Business
Advisory Council
Recommendations
• Researched various models of small business advisory councils and made recommendations for a possible small advisory council structure for the City of Oakland.
The efforts that are being conducted through this process will continue to help with the citywide priority of responsive and trustworthy government.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 10
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with the preparation of this Informational Report.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No public outreach has been conducted for this Informational Report beyond the required posting to the City’s website. However, all of the efforts summarized above have been driven by engagement with various stakeholders, including those who do business with the City, those who have been unsuccessful in doing business with the City, and those who have chosen not to do business with the City. Community input is central to the people-powered approach to ensuring inclusive and responsive government.
COORDINATION
Preparation of the Informational Report was done in coordination between the Department of Workplace & Employment Standards and the Offices of the City Administrator and City Attorney’s Office.
The initiatives detailed in this report have been designed and operationalized in coordination with the Department of Workplace & Employment Standards, Offices of the City Administrator and City Attorney, and the departments of Economic and Workforce Development, Finance, Information Technology, Public Works, Race & Equity, and Transportation.
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: The City’s volume of procurement activity provides significant opportunity for advancing City goals and supporting local and small businesses, particularly from communities that have been historically disadvantaged.
Environmental: There are no specific environmental opportunities associated with this report.
Race & Equity: Equity is the main driver of all the initiatives described in this report. These strategies strive to provide greater opportunities for all Oakland businesses and residents, including black, indigenous, and people of color who own and operate small local businesses.
Historical and present inequities have led to exclusion of these groups and inequitable representation in City contracts. These strategies will remove barriers, improve access to City contracts, and increase participation opportunities for historically excluded business-owners.
Further strategies, practices, and policy and regulatory considerations will be recommended based on the findings of the Disparity Study, the Process Map of the City’s Contracting Process, and the Racial Equity Impact Analysis that are underway.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: Inclusive Contracting Update
Date: June 28, 2023 Page 11
Community & Economic Development Committee
July 11, 2023
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Receive An Informational Report From The City Administrator On Recent and Planned Efforts to Broaden and Deepen Participation From Local and Small Local Businesses And Improve Fairness and Equity in the City’s Contracting Process.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Emylene Aspilla, Director, Department of Workplace & Employment Standards, at [email protected] .
Respectfully submitted,
EMYLENE ASPILLA
Director, Department of Workplace &
Employment Standards
Reviewed by:
Angela Robinson Piñon
Deputy City Administrator, CAO
Malia McPherson
Deputy City Attorney, Office of the City Attorney